Increasing respect for international humanitarian law in non-international armed conflicts

The most widely prevalent type of armed conflict today is non-international in nature. It involves hostilities between government armed forces and organized non-State armed groups or is carried on among members of such groups themselves. A major challenge has always been how to make the rules of IHL known to the opposing sides and how to ensure they are applied.

This publication aims to provide States and armed groups, as well as humanitarian and other actors working with parties to non-international armed conflicts with suggestions for ways in which the law could be better implemented. The publication outlines a range of legal tools and policy arguments that the ICRC, and others, have employed to increase respect for IHL.